Lois
Lois, played by Jane Kaczmarek, is Francis, Reese, Malcolm, Dewey, and Jamie's mother. Described as hard-nosed, manipulative, crazy, and a complete embarrassment to her five sons and devoted husband, Hal. [3] She is very rarely cowed by authority figures and has faced down Edwin Spangler, the extremely strict commandant of the military academy to which she sent Francis. Although she has a great sense of morality, she has a tendency to impose it on others, more often than not complete bystanders, leading her to be disliked by many but revered by some due to her outspokenness, like the other cadets at Marlon Academy. She and Hal celebrate their 16th wedding anniversary in the second episode of Season 1. Lois had a very miserable childhood due to her hateful parents. They bullied and ignored her her entire young life. As a teenager she had a lot of dreams that never came to be. Her controlling and abrasive behavior and short temper soon grew from this. Lois has an extremely unhealthy need to control and win every argument, no matter how outlandish or petty. Despite the sacrifices she has made, her sons are not grateful, because as far as they are concerned (particularly Francis and Malcolm) she is to blame for everything that is wrong in their lives. Indeed, Lois often appears unsympathetic to her sons' problems. While she was having Jamie, Malcolm, Reese and Dewey felt sorry for her and while they were at the hospital, they tried to learn how to take care of babies so they could help. However their resentment towards Lois came back when Malcolm says" MOM NEVER DID ANY OF THIS". Lois' birthday reveals she turns 40 in 2000. She went into labor with Francis in the middle of her wedding to Hal. Lois had Reese in the hospital and pushed him out hours before he would have come out naturally, because he kicked her so hard. Malcolm was born on the lawn when Francis locked her out of the car. Dewey was presumably born in the back yard, because the family had to exit the house after Malcolm, in a failed attempt to make invisible ink with a chemistry set, created chlorine gas. Jamie was born in her bedroom and Francis delivered him because the paramedics did not come due to taking a coffee break. It is very common for the boys to retaliate for her hostility by playing tricks on her. It was referenced that the worst thing they ever did to her was make her believe she had cancer in order to put perspective on their terrible report cards. (The Nuclear Option) When stressed by her children Lois would often have a sudden explosion of anger usually involving insane erratic gestures, an array of swears, the occasional banishment from some location, and a cruel and unusual threat towards her sons. Jane Kaczmarek described Lois as 'a great mother';[4] this is probably because, although she is often portrayed as a villain, she really does love her children and what they sometimes see as hostility is merely an example of extreme parenting. In the episode Lois Battles Jamie, it is revealed that when Francis was born, Lois was a very soft mother; upon seeing her son attempt to light a bear on fire, however, she realized she would have to toughen up to stop her children getting hurt and morphed into the person she was by the time the show began. Lois has a very poor relationship with her oldest son Francis, and while they state they love each other, neither of them can truly forgive the other for all the misery they have caused each other over the years. Lois is intensely disliked by Hal's wealthy and snobby family, as seen in the fourth-season episode "Family Reunion". They consider her low-class, and refer to her as "Lois Common Denominator." She, in turn, took a strong and immediate dislike to Francis's wife Piama. Both of them take every opportunity to back-bite each other, but by the end of the series they have developed a much more cordial relationship.